Do You Expect Time and Effort to Bring Results?

When I used to teach at university, I became more aware of certain thought patterns and how irrational they were.

A typical thought pattern many students had was the same one I used to have:

“Why did I only get a Pass/Credit/Distinction?? I put in SOOOO much TIME AND EFFORT into it!!”

Of course, many times this was just a student’s initial reaction, before they spent some time actually looking through their assignment feedback, and started to understand why they received the grade they received.

But this article isn’t about “grades”.

This article is about time and effort, and the inordinate emphasis we give to this combination of words.

Time and Effort

But I put in lots of time and effort into this!

Time and effort, in reality, is no guarantee of anything (besides wasting time and effort…):

4 Comments

It’s interesting how different generations react to this situation. I think my generation (vintage Gen Y’ers) cope differently with rejection than the Cyber Gen or Millennials do. I was never taught that effort will equal success but these days that’s all they teach. Now kids “succeed” from having tried and so when they encounter opposition or fail in their attempt to do something, they’re outraged. I don’t know why we can’t commend kids for trying but also teach them that there will be times when they’ll have to try harder in order to win. It’s not a complex conversation to have. Just hold back some of those gold stars.

I agree with what you’re saying In principle – time and effort alone do not guarantee results. But they sure increase your chances of getting there. I heard a great quote (by a champion snooker player I think) where he was asked whether he thought his luck would continue after winning a few tournaments, and he said “the funny thing is, the more I practice, the luckier I get.”